The Hunter Mage

CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO

"You really can't leave," Dev said but it sounded more like a question than a statement.

"Yeah," Vernon said softly, turning to look at him.

"Is it that you are too weak to leave or Madame told you not to?" Dev asked, he was not sure how bad Vernon's health was but by the looks of things he might have underestimated it a little.

"A little of both. My head is constantly hurting and then all my body hurts. It is more in my favor to remain in bed than to walk out of it. I probably would not even make it to the door, that's if I can even get out of the bed." Vernon muttered, trying to explain how he felt to Dev and Nevil.

"Oh," they both exclaimed even though Vernon was not so sure they understood.

"So you can't go to the children's section today huh?" Dev added, staring closely at Vernon as he spoke. He asked the question softly so as not to get on Vernon's nerves because he knew there was one thing Vernon looked forward to and that was seeing his sister every day, however, this was sure to prevent that.

Vernon's face fell instantly. He had been avoiding the topic in his head. Tossing it around and never really dwelling on it. He brought his head and slowly said, "Yeah, I guess not."

There was a moment of silence while Nevil fiddled with his hands and Dev stared blankly at Vernon. Suddenly, Vernon jerked his head upwards and grabbed Nevil's hand that was nearest to him.

A flash of fear passed across Nevil's face and his eyes widened. "What?" He cried out and tried to tug his hand away from Vernon's grip but Vernon refused to let go.

"Nevil," he called slowly, smiling creepily.

"What?" Nevil cried again, this time he was annoyed.

"The heavens must have sent you. Since I am not going to make it today, you have to help Dev out." Vernon muttered, staring intensely at Nevil.

"What? No way. I don't do little kids and nothing you'll say will change my mind." Nevil replied and tried again to free his hand from Vernon's grip but he could tell that Vernon had no intention of letting him go and he was afraid if he tugged too hard, he would injure them both.

"Come on, Nevil. Dev would need all the help he can get and just for today, I am sick after all." Vernon whined, hoping to cajole Nevil.

"My no is no. I'm not going to let you guys play me into hanging out with the children and don't forget I haven't forgiven you all for last time." Nevil spoke in a rush, pointing at both of them with his free hand.

"You all? It was completely Dev's idea, don't rope me into this."

"I don't care whose idea it was, I am blaming both of you and my answer is still no."

"You will get to see my sister," Vernon muttered dropping the sentence like a little bomb.

Nevil froze, unsure how to react because he was worried that his ears were playing tricks on him and he did not just hear Vernon say, sister. "Huh, sister? Is this another stupid trick?" His confusion immediately changed to annoyance.

Madame Rebecca was believable but there was no way Vernon's sister was anywhere here. Of course, he could not dispute the fact that Vernon had a sister as he remembered when his mother was pregnant, actually, that was the last time they both saw Vernon's mother.

However, he remembered this because he would often tease Vernon about the fact that he would no longer be the only child. Vernon had not hated but Nevil had been slightly jealous because he knew the chance of having another sibling was not possible. His mother already had her handful with him.

Not that he had known this at the time as he had cried to his mother that night that he wanted a brother or sister. His mother had laughed and told him it was not possible, she had then said a couple of other things to cheer him up.

He had forgotten all about the expenditure but for some reason he was remembering all this now, well, he knew the reason, it still didn't mean he believed it. He noticed his face had a mean look but he did not care, if this was a joke he didn't find it very funny.

Dev sighed at Vernon's words and Nevil's question. The fact was not a secret but for the past month, only he and a couple of Madames knew about it. They did not discuss this out of the kids' section, a couple of the girls could guess but no one else had been told.

The only reason the Madames knew about it was Vernon had never gone out his way for any child before and he was certain they had overheard them a few times. It was not like they could not tell anyone but there were rarely siblings at the academy except they were twins because most parents knew better than to try again.

Once the first child has magic, the rest definitely would, there was also the fact that most were taken from a very young age so they do not even know if they have siblings. People could speculate but nobody really knew.

"No Nevil, it is not. My sister really is here." Vernon said slowly. It was not that he wanted to keep this information a secret, it was just the fact that nobody would believe him if he told them. After all, his only proof was a set of earrings. Of course, he was sure they had been handcrafted by his father but they did look like something you can buy off the market.

Nevil's frown deepened and he looked from Vernon to Dev, staring intensely with the hopes that one of them would say it was a prank. When neither of them said anything, he said, "Dev is this true?"